


A Study in Green and Gold

by ladymac111



Series: By the Lake [3]
Category: Sherlock (TV), Sherlock Holmes & Related Fandoms
Genre: Alternate Universe - Historical, American Football, Chicago (City), Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, Fluff, Green Bay Packers, Let's Draw Sherlock - Culture Swap, M/M, Super Bowl
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-24
Updated: 2013-07-24
Packaged: 2017-12-21 04:51:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 912
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/896004
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ladymac111/pseuds/ladymac111
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Chicago, January 1997.  John receives an exciting piece of mail from the Green Bay Packers.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Study in Green and Gold

**Author's Note:**

> Background:
> 
> John is from the Green Bay area and has been a fan of the Packers since he first drew breath. Sherlock is from the Chicago suburbs and is mostly indifferent to football, but at least he doesn't support the Bears (the Packers' arch-rivals). They met in Milwaukee in 1991 ("East Side Story").
> 
> At the time of this story they are living in downtown Chicago and have been in a romantic relationship for five years. Harry lives near Green Bay, and is bitter that their father left his season ticket rights to John when he died, since she is the bigger football fan and John lives two hundred miles away and only makes it to a couple of games every year.
> 
> (You can skip the rest of the notes if you're familiar with the Packers and Chicago.)
> 
> The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team from Green Bay, Wisconsin. They are the only community-owned team in the NFL, and their fan base is extremely broad and very serious, practically a religion. Their team colors are green and gold.  
> More at Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_Bay_Packers
> 
> The Super Bowl is the championship game at the very end of the NFL season, and happens in late January or early February. The Packers won the first two Super Bowl games in 1967 and 1968, and the trophy given to the winner of the Super Bowl every year is named for the Packers' coach at the time, Vince Lombardi. They finally made it to the Super Bowl for again in the 1996 season.
> 
> Being a Packers season ticket holder is a Very Big Deal. Current estimate says the waiting time for season tickets is over 900 years. People are often put on the waiting list at birth, and the lucky people who do hold season tickets usually pass them on to their children when they die. The rules governing this are very strict; you can read about them at the Packers' website if you're interested.
> 
> I'm guessing that the Packers season ticket holders' Super Bowl lottery worked basically the same way in 1997 as it does now. If it looks like the Pack will be in the Super Bowl, there's a random drawing of all current season ticket holders to decide who gets to buy Super Bowl tickets that way.
> 
> The 'L' is the public transit train in Chicago. It's run by the Chicago Transit Authority, or CTA.  
> The Loop is the main downtown area of Chicago, so named because there's a loop of the L.  
> Little Chute is a town about 30 miles south of Green Bay, in the Appleton “metro” area. Basically all I know about it is there's a great dairy store right off the highway. You can get cheese curds so fresh, the milk was still inside a cow earlier that day.  
> Green Bay is 200 miles north of Chicago. If you’re speedy and you avoid traffic, you can do it in three hours.

January 7, 1997  
Chicago, Illinois

“I'm home!” John pushed the door shut behind him and hung his keys on their peg before pulling his coat off. “Sherlock, are you here?”

“Yes.”

John toed his boots off and went through to the living room, hitting the light switch on the way. “You're allowed to turn the lights on, you know. We can afford it.”

“I was thinking.” He blinked up at John from his prone position on the couch. “You're late.”

“Yeah, sorry. Big delays on the L this afternoon.” He pressed a kiss to Sherlock's forehead, then drew back slowly. “Hold on, I know that face.”

Sherlock failed to suppress a smirk. “I don't know what you're talking about.”

“It was you! I don't know how, but somehow it was you, wasn't it? You're the reason the trains are so backed up in the Loop.”

“It wasn't my fault.”

“But you were involved.” John sighed. “You know what, I'm really not in the mood right now. You keep your dealings with the CTA to yourself.” He went into the kitchen. “Did you eat dinner yet? No, of course not, you've been thinking. Are you going to eat tonight?”

“Maybe. What are we having?”

John opened the fridge. “Um … there's some leftover casserole from the other night. Or I thought I might make chili. We've got that cheddar you love from when we went through Little Chute on Sunday; that and some cornbread would chase the cold away.”

He closed the refrigerator and turned directly into Sherlock's body with a soft _oof_. “Jesus, don't sneak up on me like that.”

“You didn't look at the mail yet.”

John raised his eyebrows. “You mean there's something other than bills?”

Sherlock held up a plain-looking envelope with a grin. “This was postmarked in Green Bay.”

John snatched it. “No, it couldn't be!” He tore it open and read the enclosed sheet, and when he finished he threw his arms around Sherlock. “Oh my god, it is! You're a fucking good luck charm or something!”

“Good?”

“ _Very_ good. Oh my god, you have no idea.” He read the letter again, then looked up at Sherlock with a smile that felt like it was going to split his face in two. “We're going to the Super Bowl.”

Sherlock raised his eyebrows. “We don't know if the Packers will be in it.”

“That doesn't matter! And they will be, they _have to_ be.”

“Their performance on Sunday was--”

“Sherlock, shut up. The Packers are going to the Super Bowl, and they are going to _win_ the Super Bowl, and we will be there cheering them on.”

“They haven't even gotten to the Super Bowl since 1968, much less won. Why is this year different?”

“Come on, Sherlock, you've been watching. We've got Brett Favre and Reggie White and … it's just a fantastic team this year, the best it's ever been.”

Sherlock wrapped his arms around John's waist. “You're so sexy when you get passionate about football.”

John gave him a chaste kiss. “Not now, dear. Can you start dinner while I'm in the shower?”

Sherlock didn't remove himself, and nuzzled John's neck as he spoke. “I suppose so.”

“Hey!” He wriggled away, and slapped Sherlock's ass playfully with the letter from the Packers. “There's half a pound of ground chuck in the fridge, unless you did an experiment with it. Brown that and some onions, and if you could mix up the Jiffy for the cornbread that would be great.” He set the oven to preheat before he went into the bedroom and started undressing.

Sherlock sighed dramatically. “The things I do for you.”

“Hey now, I'm taking you to New Orleans in two weeks, I think that's worth ten minutes in the kitchen.”

Sherlock got out the soup pot. “It is pretty cool that you won the drawing.”

“It's so far beyond _pretty cool_. I've been waiting for this since I was a kid! My dad went to every single home game when I was growing up, but I only ever got to go to regular season games.”

“What about Harry? Don't you think she wants to go?”

“I'm sure she does, but come _on_ , Sherlock, this is probably going to be my only chance to take you to the Super Bowl.”

“But why me? I don't even like football that much, I only watch it when you're around.”

John came back into the kitchen, wrapped in his bathrobe. “Hey.” He took the onion out of Sherlock's hand and set it on the counter. “It's because I love you. Having you with me makes it better than when you're not there. And you do have fun, don't you?”

He allowed a soft smile. “A little.”

“There you go.” John touched his cheek. “Not so above it all, are you?”

“Don't you dare tell Mycroft.”

“Oh, I would never. You're coming along for New Orleans, and you're only going to the game so you can get a hand job in the bathroom at halftime.”

Sherlock turned bright red. “Are you serious?”

“Your face!” John burst out laughing. “No, god no, I'd never do that. Ugh! Disgusting.” He kissed the frown that still lingered at the corner of Sherlock's mouth. “But I promise you, if we win, you are going to get the fuck of your life when we get back to the hotel.”

“So romantic.” Sherlock head-butted him gently. “Go have your shower. I've got dinner under control.”

**Author's Note:**

> An illustration of John and Sherlock at the January 4th playoff game at Lambeau Field is [at my Tumblr.](http://ladymac111.tumblr.com/post/56294664963/all-righty-im-from-wisconsin-and-in-wisconsin)


End file.
